Fighting the Tide
by InexplicablyBlue
Summary: When Ash, Dawn, and Brock find a familiar face struggling in a river, they are told some haunting news. Someone's out to kill coordinators in Hoenn. Can they stop the killer before someone else gets murdered? Oh, one more thing: the top suspect is May's own father. AaMayL. This is my first story, constructive criticism welcome!
1. Chapter 1

A/ N: This is my first fanfiction that's i have ever posted! I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share my works here. Criticism is accepted and expected. Thanks! Also, as i upload these on a mobile device, they may appear odd on a computer, so please don't spam me with messages telling me to fix the format. Let me know if it's flawed, but don't be a troll about it.

Ash didn't recognize her at first. Then again, it was hard to recognize someone while they were being dragged downriver by a current. If not for the Blaziken, he wouldn't have seen her.

It was early spring, a surprisingly warm day despite the recent snowfall. March had brought an onslaught of winter storms, and the last of the snow had only just melted. Colorful flower buds peeked through the ground.

Ash, Dawn, and Brock had been on their way to Lilygrove. Upon getting all of the Sinnoh ribbons, Dawn had decided to get the Hoenn ones too, and thus they went there.

But now Ash wondered why it had to be Hoenn.

The bridge they were crossing over looked down on a deceptively slow-looking river. Ash hadn't paid much attention to it, as usual. His ADHD mind tended to overlook big things and focus on lesser important details, like the fact that Dawn's socks didn't match. It had been bugging him for a while now. Like his mom said, he'd find the needle but miss the haystack.

A sudden cry made him look up from Dawn's socks. A Blaziken was leaping in huge strides near the riverbank, raising a hellish din. Pikachu, who had been peacefully lounging on Ash's shoulder as usual, sat up bolt-right and perked up his ears.

Ash frowned. "Brock, are Blaziken native to this area? I don't remember seeing them here."

"No-wait. That Blaziken looks familiar!"

Dawn was already running across the bridge and towards the Blaziken, in all of her mismatched sockish glory. Ash and Brock followed, despite the fact that they couldn't possibly follow a blazing chicken at full speed. (A/N: I never thought I'd write a sentence quite like that.)

"Go, Staraptor! See what that Blaziken's following!"

"Staaar!" The falcon (?) flew ahead, catching up with its distant avian relative quickly, and flew at the river, talons outstretched. It seemed to be struggling to carry something.

As Ash and co. drew closer, Ash saw something. A familiar flash of red in a familiar shade of red. But that didn't make sense.

(A/N: Cue Taylor Swift's _Are You Ready For It?)_

Ash saw a dark figure in the water, making feeble movements. Ash put Pikachu down and jumped into the fast water.

In retrospect, that was pretty dumb. Any fifteen year old should have known better. But impulse control wasn't Ash's strong suit.

But luckily, swimming was.

He muttered a few curses that Arceus wouldn't approve of as he struggled to get the person ashore. He managed to get to the riverbank and gasped for air as Blaziken pulled him out. He blinked water out of his eyes and breathlessly thanked the Pokemon.

His eyes seized random details. Red bandana worn like a headband. Black tank top. Ponytail. Hey look, a bidoof. And oh crap, is she breathing? That's an important detail. But her chest seemed to rise and fall faintly. Wet hair was plastered to the trainer's face, but he knew it. He knew the face like the back of his hand. Or his glove, since he wore gloves a lot. _Dammit_ , he chided himself. _Gloves aren't important right now._

He sat up, trying to catch his breath and organize his thoughts. He didn't have much time to, though, as the girl started to cough up water.

Ash decided not to run away, even though he kind of wanted to. Yeah, he had wanted to see her again, but not like this.

He looked desperately at Brock. However, Brock's expression mirrored his own. Confusion.

Ash tentatively sat still as the girl groaned and looked at him. Her face was muddy and a nasty cut stretched the length of the left side of her jawline.

She was the first to talk.

"Ash, Brock."

May's voice was croaky and soft.

"Are you okay? Why are you here? What happened?"

"Get away, as quickly as you can."

She promptly coughed up more water and passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/ N: Holy Arceus, 43 views within my first day of publishing this! I'm super psyched, guys!I got one favorite! Please leave a review, positive or negative, if the need strikes! Thank you all! Please remember I upload on mobile, so sorry if the format's strange.**_

Once they got to the nearest pokemon center, May having been carried by her Blaziken, Ash flipped on the small TV in the lobby.

"We have been given new information on the trainer who was killed in Petalburg city yesterday evening…"

Ash's head perked up. He didn't know someone had been killed in May's hometown.

"The trainer's name was Jonah Degrassio, a very successful coordinator hailing from Alola," the news anchor went on. "The trainer's main pokemon, an Alakazam, seems to point to the Petalburg Gym. We have yet to figure out what the poor pokemon is trying to tell us. Further information will be released once we get it."

Ash turned off the TV as it changed to the weather. He made a note to ask May about it later when Nurse Joy walked through the lobby.

"May has just woken up, if you'd like to talk to her. She'll be just fine-she's just exhausted."

"Thanks, nurse Joy."

Brock and Dawn were already in the room when Ash arrived. May was sitting up, wrapped in blankets like a Swadloon. She wore new jeans and a fluffy white long-sleeved shirt- probably because her others were soaking wet. She smiled at Ash, a welcome sight. But her eyes weren't sparkling like they usually did when she smiled.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Ash laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, well. What happened? Were you taking a swim?"

Dawn slapped him lightly. "Ash, be nice."

May laughed- a sardonic laugh. "Yeah, about that. Someone tried to kill me."

 _Well then._ After hearing her laugh, that wasn't what Ash was expecting to hear. Maybe 'Oh, I fell in,' or 'I was dared to jump in' or pretty much anything else. Ash considered getting Nurse Joy.

"Um, okay. Could you explain that? You're obviously joking, I assume?" Brock said, his voice concerned.

May snorted. "Yeah, no. I was on my way to the Lilycove boating port to get away from Hoenn. Someone's after coordinators."

"Wait, a kid named Jonah was killed near Petalburg gym!" Ash exclaimed. May sighed.

"Yeah, and people are freaking out."

Brock cleared his throat. "May, you seem awfully calm about this. Why's that?"

May smiled a bit. "I trust my Pokemon to protect me. My friend Gastrodon gets out of her Pokeball anytime she feels like I'm in danger. But honestly? It's all an act. I'm terrified. I learn to contain my fear, though. An audience can smell fear. I guess I get used to putting up an act."

"May, you should come with us!" Ash said, suprising himself. Only after he said it did he notice Dawn, looking absolutely petrified. Ash sometimes forgot that she was two years younger than he was, at thirteen. She was probably shaken up at the thought of travelling with a murderer's target. Then again, maybe May was mistaken?

"Um, May, what happened before you were pushed in?" Dawn asked tentatively.

"Well, I had been training for a contest with Blaziken and Chikorita while I was taking a break from traveling when across the river I see a Steelix. I was obviously distracted because _holy Arceus, a steelix_ , when I'm pushed into the river. While I'm flailing, he gets away. The river was really fast and deep, and if I couldn't swim… Anyways, Blaziken grabbed my bag and managed to return Chikorita, and then ran after me."

"But aren't there better ways to kill someone? What if you just climbed out?" inquired Ash.

May sighed. "Think about it. One, the river was far too strong to just climb out of. Two, it's pretty convenient, isn't it? I mean, any fingerprints would be washed off, and he didn't have to dispose of the body. It would seem like I just fell in. No need to come up with an alias. Unless someone saw, then he could get away immediately. But no one else was aroud."

She was right, Ash realized. It did seem pretty convenient for a killer.

"But what would the motive be?" Ash asked.

Brock sighed. "Ash, have you been watching _Psych_ without me?"

"I would never!"

Dawn cleared her throat. "Isn't it obvious? The Princess of Hoenn is a skilled coordinator. Obviously it was a rival of hers."

Ash scoffed. "Hey May, have you and Drew been arguing? I bet a certain grasshead may have done it."

May shook her head. "No, Ash. Come on. Besides, he and this Gladion dude are off in a gay luau in Alola."

"Wait, why?"

May looked at Ash funny. " _Maybe_ because they're gay?"

"I thought that you and-"

"Nah. It was a cover. He didn't know how the media would take it, so he was all flirty to me at contests. Anyways, we can't figure out who it is right now."

Ash was strangely glad to hear about Drew being Gay. He didn't know why.

May continued. "I plan on leaving as soon as I can. Hopefully nothing else happens."

Nurse Joy walked in. "May? Someone's here to see you."

"Really? Okay, let them in."

A familiar figure walked in- Norman, May's father. Standing tall and stern, he looked down on everyone. Ash didn't like him much, in all honesty- so quiet and judgy. Ash couldn't see how May turned out the way she did under the care of this serious man. He was stone, solid and rigid, unmoving under the strongest pressure. She was water-flowing around all obstacles, a usually benevolent force but with capabilities of were alike in some ways too, though. They had the same defiant glint in their eyes, and they had an undeniably strong prescence.

Turns out these qualities made for an electric feel in the air as two people glared at eachother.

"Ash, Dawn, Brock? Could you please excuse us?" May asked sweetly, not taking her hostile glare off of her father.

"Uh, sure. Hi, Mr. Maple."

Norman smiled. "Why, May, why don't your guests stay here as we talk? See, May here has agreed to-"

May pushed the blankets off and stood up, putting her hand o the bedside table for support. "I haven't agreed to shi-"

"Language, my dear May. She has agreed to become the next Petalburg city gym leader!"


End file.
